


A Life Built

by madasanickfury



Series: Snapshots of A Life Built [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Background Relationships, Bisexual Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy, M/M, Mentioned Cedric Diggory - Freeform, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-09-15 19:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16939728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madasanickfury/pseuds/madasanickfury
Summary: Harry and Draco start building something more than acquaintances. As they bridge the gap to friendship they start teetering on the edge of something more.





	1. Chapter 1

The war had taken its toll on everybody. It affected everyone differently. Two out of three of the Golden Trio return for their eighth year. One very blonde, very familiar ex-Death Eater also returns. They all have their own troubles and difficulties fitting in, finding where they belong in this new Hogwarts. And of course all Eighth years share one dormitory, not many of them came back after all, not many were alive to come back. As they're all confined in such close quarters new secrets come to light and students find things out about each other that they never knew, or even considered, before.


	2. Inter-House Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the war, a lot of things in Draco's life are turned upside down.

He hated it. He hated who he'd become. Why couldn't Harry see? Lying on the bathroom floor, split apart, bleeding. Why did Snape have to save him? Why couldn't he have let Draco die?

He didn't want to kill Dumbledore, never wanted to kill anyone. Never wanted to hurt anyone, but Draco valued his own life above those of others. he was shameful, pathetic. That's what his father always said.

Like many others Draco didn't go back for his official final year, he wished he had. Life would've been better, a lot better.

Potter, that's all that had been going through his mind. Draco nearly kissed him that day at the house, would've if things were different. Harry was safe, alive at least. That's why he lied.

That's why he'd apologised in the Room of Requirement when Harry saved his life. He hoped it had conveyed everything, every regret for everything Draco had ever done. He wanted to build bridges, to be friends. 

Draco had made his decision during the battle, running Potters wand across to him when it was revealed he was alive. His mother had quickly dragged him back.

"How dare you disrespect the Dark Lord like that? How dare you disrespect me?!"

"Lucious, leave the poor boy be. He did the right thing."

"And you! You lied, you said he was dead."

"That young man told me my son was alive, I owed him a lie. Unlike you, I care more about my family than my reputation. I hope you rot in Azkaban when they throw you in there."

There was a sharp slapping sound.

"You ungrateful insolent wench. It is not your place!"

Draco lost it. He began throwing curses at Lucious, hexes and jinxes. Not dark enough magic though.

"Avada kedavra!"

Draco shut his eyes as he saw the terrifying green approach, only the hit never came. There was a thud in front of him, opening his eyes Draco saw his mother's corpse.

"No!" Draco ran to it, to her, crying his eyes out.

Lucious was already geared up to shoot another killing curse. Once again it never came.

"Petrificus totalus!"

Potter was standing above him, with his wand raised. He also looked shocked at what he had done. Or maybe he was shocked to find out Draco could cry.

"They'll be coming to take him to Azkaban," he said finally.

"Why did you do that? Why not just let him kill me?"

"If I wanted you dead, I would've left you in the Room of Requirement. Besides your mother saved my life and I made a promise to her, one I intend to keep."

Sure enough, they had come for Lucious, and for Draco. They started dragging the boy away from his mother, kicking and screaming. He was digging his feet in the ground when suddenly they stopped, and Draco was released back to his mother.

Everything else happened without recognition, much like a subconscious experience. Draco could remember crying over the body, arms wrapping around him. He couldn't remember who's arms. He didn't remember being apparated out, and he definitely didn't remember how he ended up on a second-hand sofa. Draco didn't even know why the Weasley twin was letting him stay on it. He couldn't go home though. Not yet. Potter and Granger had, surprisingly, been trying to convince him to return to Hogwarts in order to complete his final year. Draco had refused, he'd been helping George with some things for his shop. Much to his surprise, it was enjoyable.

"You can go back, you know? Don't stay for my sake," George smiled

"Why are you being so kind?"

"Draco, you lost your mother, I have lost my twin, that's something we have in common; we have lost the person that meant the most to us."

"That can't be it, well at least not entirely."

"You were forced into doing what you've done. Not that that excuses it, but anyone with half a brain could see how much it was destroying you from the inside out. You deserve a second chance, or rather a first chance to make your own life, completely your own. You should start by completing your education, you wanted to be a healer, right?"

"I always admired you and Fred, your pranks always made me laugh. Even through the hardest parts of my life, I remembered your pranks and they helped a lot. Thank you for everything. I promise I'll come to help you during the holidays, maybe some weekends."

"If you think of any spells, charms or products just let me know. You're always welcome on the sofa."

Draco hugged George before leaving to pack. He, of course, went with Draco to the station, it was Ginny's last year too. He couldn't form words for his hatred when seeing her with Harry, but it was unavoidable.

Draco had shared a compartment with the two them, plus Hermione. Calling the two by their first names was an adjustment, one he was still getting used to. As were they, still calling him Malfoy, but at least they crack a smile when they slip up on the names.

Throughout the ride Ginny kept sending him glares, Harry would nudge her before smiling gently at Draco apologetically. Hermione had tried to keep him distracted by keeping up a conversation. She had been speaking to him for the majority of the summer, she knew about the feelings he had in terms of his family, and everything during the war, she had been very sympathetic. Once she had found out about Draco sleeping on George's sofa Hermione had mentioned the feelings she had secretly harboured for Fred, but she did indeed love Ron and was very happy with him. Ron had chosen not to return for his final year as he had gone straight into Auror training.

Upon reaching Hogwarts the group had split. They were all of a different house to Draco of course, they had been told to meet peers from the same house in their old common rooms, before meeting altogether in the Great Hall. When Draco reached Slytherin's common room only two lots of bags could be seen, in fact, the entire house seemed rather quiet.

"Draco! This is a surprise," Blaise smirked, coming out from one of the dormitories. "Didn't think we'd be seeing you. You look healthier, I take it living with the Weasley treated you well?"

"Zabini if you say one wrong word about him..."

"I wasn't going to. I'm glad he's kept you alive."

"We got along very well, he's sort of become my big brother."

"Lord knows you've needed one of those for years."

"Yeah, we all know you would've been much less of a pansy if you had an older brother knocking you about."

The two boys sighed.

"Theodore, what a delight," Draco sighed loudly.

Theodore Nott had wormed his way into their little group during their seventh year and, truth be told, he had brightened up their lives. He'd made them feel like regular teenagers away at school, not teenagers stuck about to be fighting a war. The only one missing from their group after what unfortunately happened to Goyle, and since Crabbe wasn't returning, was Pansy. Fashionably late, as always, Draco assumed. Despite her, very obvious, feelings for him the two had never been more than friends. All of her advances stopped after he came out to her, she respected the boundaries he laid down.

"Blaise-ikins!" A screech echoed through the dungeon.

"Oh, God. I thought she wasn't coming back," Blaise instantly hid behind a sofa.

"First up, she can see you, mate. Secondly, she changed her mind pretty last minute, I'm shocked she didn't tell you," Theodore laughed at his friend.

Pansy came running down the stairs, bags abandoned at the entrance. She tackled Draco into a hug and kissed his cheek. She promptly did the same to Theodore, before throwing herself on top of Blaise, resulting in them both lying on the floor. Blaise had terror in his eyes while Pansy was giggling to herself. Draco couldn't help but join in the laughter at the look on Blaise's face, and it wasn't long until all four of them were practically in hysterics.

"Sorry, but, um, Headmistress McGonagall would like all eighth years in the Great Hall. And bring your bags," a seventh-year student announced.

The four of them grabbed their things, refusing the escort from the seventh year, and continued their conversations. They arrived at the Great Hall to see that all of the returning students from the other houses had already arrived. Harry and Hermione each gave a little wave at Draco before returning to their conversation with Dean and Seamus. Neville was off talking to a couple of the Hufflepuff students and the Ravenclaw's were keeping to themselves. All conversation hushed quickly the moment Headmistress McGonagall stepped up to the podium.

"Now, despite the war, we've had some first years in. Trust me it was a process to find them all. Either way, there is no space for you in your old houses. So, the faculty and I have come up with a solution. Or rather it came to us. The Room of Requirement has taken up a permanent residence on the Third Floor, and when we inspected it, there seemed to be no damage from the war. It has changed itself into a common room, with dormitories. This means that you will be living in an Inter-house dorm. Look after it. You will be attending most classes with returning seventh-years, a few will be having one to one classes as well. I assume you all still want to do the classes you had chosen before the war. If not please come and talk to me immediately. With that said, I shall leave you to find your new accommodation, and I wish you luck for this year."

A few students did indeed go up to the Headmistress, Harry included. Draco wanted to ask him about it, but he was sure that Harry would want to find Ginny as soon as he could after being settled. Draco knew it would have to wait until just before bed. He'd already owled McGonagall about his subject changes and everything had been arranged. He resigned himself to following the small group of eighth years to their new living arrangements.

Once they got there he was shocked at the common room, it looked as warm as the Gryffindor common room from stories Draco had heard, but it had all of the house's banners hanging around. The dorms were still split into boys and girls, and as he went upstairs Draco found that there were actually multiple rooms for each. He was sharing with Blaise and Dean, Theodore was with Neville, Seamus and Harry. He was ecstatic and the three boys sharing all raced to choose their beds. Blaise and Dean retreated downstairs, but Draco chose to unpack as soon as he could. A couple of hours later Dean had come back up.

"So, we're going to have a bit of inter-house bonding. Um, not everyone is joining in, so you don't have to. But if you want to we've got some firewhiskey, and it's going to be a blast."

"As long as we keep Seamus away from anything that could be flammable in any way, I'm in."

And so Draco found himself sitting in a circle spread out over the sofas, chairs and the floors, waiting for people to settle on a game. Truth or dare and never have I ever had been thrown around a lot, but no-one really wanted to share a lot while sober.

"Alright, how about we start off with just Truths? And I mean stuff like 'how was your summer?' and 'what subjects are you doing?'. Then once we're comfortable enough we'll introduce more personal stuff, and then once we're drunk enough we'll introduce dares. If you don't wanna answer or do the dare then take a shot of firewhisky." Theodore compromised.

People seemed happy enough with that suggestion. They were just waiting on a few more people, but once Harry, Hermione and Pansy joined the circle the game immediately got underway.


	3. Truth or Dare or Underwear?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cliche truth or dare bonding chapter, with added twists.

They'd found an empty bottle to sit in the middle of the circle to get the game going. As Theodore had suggested the game, he kicked it all off. He put a lot of force into the bottle and the group watch it spin around countless times before it landed on Blaise. A smirk appeared on Theodore's face nearly as quickly as Blaise's cool composure dropped.

"Truth or dare?"

"I don't want either. Can I just do a shot now?"

Theodore pouted but nodded. Blaise quickly threw back a shot before taking up the position to spin the bottle. It had landed on Dean, who seemed rather impassive about the whole situation.

"Truth or dare, mate."

"I dare you to tell whoever you like that you like them," Blaise had looked pretty smug.

Dean shrugged and made his way over to Seamus, pulling the smaller boy into his lap. They both smiled as Dean leant down to kiss Seamus gently. As Draco, unsurprised, looked around the group he could see a few shocked faces, but most of them seemed to know about it already. Blaise, however, was not one of them.

"Seamus, my best friend for 8 years, my boyfriend of 5 months, I like you."

This had caused the entire group to burst out laughing, despite whether they knew about it or not. Many more rounds had gone, some tame but some a lot more daring, which led to people finding out about Hermione and Ron's kiss during the war (most people already knew of course), Harry and Ginny's first time (something Draco didn't want to hear anything else about) and Neville sticking his hand in the fire to see if it would burn him (it did, but only slightly). A few people, including Draco, seemed tipsy. Most having swigs out of boredom waiting for their turn. Finally, the bottle landed on Draco, with Pansy on the other end of it.

"Oh, God."

"Draco, darling, you overreact. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to...hmmm...kiss the prettiest girl here."

"If you think that's getting you a kiss, Pans, you're deeply misled. Also no, I'm good."

Draco did two shots, one for not doing the dare, and one because if Pansy was going to continue with that theme, he'd need to be very drunk to tolerate her. Draco spun the bottle, trying to come up with a truth and a dare before it had stopped. But to no avail, as it rested on Harry, who shrugged gently at him.

"Surprise me."

"You're going to regret that. What can I get the chosen one to do? Harry Potter, I dare you to..."

"Kiss everyone in this circle!" Pansy screeched.

"Sure."

"Hey, no wait. I was supposed to dare him," Draco whined hopelessly.

Harry had already begun making his way around the circle, everyone getting pecks either on the forehead or the cheek, Hermione got one brief one the lips. There were always light giggles following, either trying to cover up a blush or just from the sheer stupidity of what Harry was doing. He stopped in front of Draco and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips from Harry, and they both couldn't help but laugh, too tipsy to care about anything that was happening. Harry finally made it back to his seat and spun the bottle. It had landed on Seamus.

"Go on then. Hit me with that dare."

"I dare you to run around the school in your underwear, but with Dean's on your head."

Dean's jaw dropped, as Seamus laughed with glee. He was obviously the drunkest of them all. He quickly stripped and held out his hand for Dean's underwear. His boyfriend chuckled, shook his head and went up to their dorm to grab some. Seamus carefully positioned them on his head before sprinting out into the halls. Everyone quickly ran out to follow him. He was running madly, yelling and screaming, not worrying about any teachers hearing him or catching him. When he returned he stumbled into Dean's arms, not being able to keep himself up.

"I don't feel good."

"I'm not surprised after that. Time for sleep for you, I think."

Seamus nodded against Dean's chest and the two of them (Dean mostly) bid the others goodnight as they went up. This caused a few others to head up to bed as well, even though there weren't classes the next day it had been getting late. Soon it was just Theodore, Blaise, Harry and Draco. They sat back down on the floor and Draco glared at the bottle in the middle of them. Harry noticed and looked to Theodore with a sly smirk.

"You know, all those rounds, and I don't think Theo had a go. Truth or dare?"

"It's Theodore, please don't call me Theo. And dare obviously."

"Got it. I dare you to kiss Blaise."

There had been many kissing dares, but other than Harry kissing everyone, Blaise and Theodore hadn't been kissed. Draco thought they were lucky, he'd made out with a drunk Neville and a tipsy Hermione. Both with rules that they were never to talk about it, nothing was going to come of it. Draco broke his thought to look at two of his best friends, yet again Blaise's cool composure had dropped, but his face was blank. Draco didn't know what he could be thinking. Theodore was ready to rise to the challenge, however, and took Blaise's face into his hands and kissed him deeply. A faint blush lay on both of their faces, but Draco couldn't tell whether it was from the alcohol or the kiss. When they finished Blaise returned to the blank face he had on. Theodore turned to the other two.

"Nothing to it, I don't get what the whole fuss was about."

Blaise muttered a good night and very quickly ran away from the situation. Theodore looked at Harry and Draco before going after Blaise, afraid he'd upset him. Harry turned to Draco and poked his cheek.

"I'm bisexual."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, after I kissed you earlier, and after that, I thought you should know. Besides, we're friends, aren't we? I was bound to tell you eventually."

"Oh, right. Um..."

"You don't have to say anything, really. I just thought you should know."

Harry stood up to leave.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Draco."

"I'm...gay." Draco honestly didn't know why he'd admitted it. Maybe it was the drunken state he'd found himself in. But Harry had just come out to him, and they were friends. Draco trusted him.

"Okay. Goodnight, Draco."

"Night."

Draco watched Harry leave and sat in silence by himself for a few minutes. Harry was the third person he'd come out to, only Pansy and Blaise knew. Though he suspected that Hermione might have known too. He felt better for telling Harry, it was another step towards being Draco, rather than being Draco Malfoy. With his father gone he was able to start exploring who he was outside of his family. That was another reason he had trusted Harry so much, because of everything he'd done for Draco after the war. His train of thought was interrupted as Theodore re-entered the common room.

"He's bloody locked the door. You're going to have to talk to him."

Draco sighed and went up to his room. He shooed Theodore away to his own room, knowing Blaise wouldn't let Draco in if he even suspected Theodore was with him at that moment. He knocked gently on the door four times, letting Blaise know it was him. He heard a spell being whispered before the door opened, revealing a very tired and very tipsy Blaise Zabini. Draco could see that Dean and Seamus were in Dean's bed, sleeping quietly, so he tiptoed over to his bed, sitting down, patting the spot next to him for Blaise. He cast a muffliato, just so they wouldn't wake the couple.

"Come on, talk to me. What happened down there?"

"I don't know. I was ok with the dare, it didn't make me feel uncomfortable. Just a drunken game. But then he kissed me and I liked it, Dray. I wanted him to do it again, and then he said it was nothing essentially and that sucked. But I don't know whether it's cause I'm drunk or not."

"Okay, well, first things first, don't freak out about it while drunk. I speak from experience when I say that makes everything worse and out of proportion. Secondly, once you sit and think about this while sober, you'll need to talk to Theodore. And you know it."

"I hate being part Veela, have I ever told you that? I've had people kiss me because they thought they were in love with me, accidentally charmed with my looks. I don't want that to happen again. I always thought me and Pans would end up together, just thought it was how the cards would play out. And then Theodore has to go and bloody kiss me, and suddenly I feel like he's the Veela."

Draco laughed and pulled Blaise back onto the bed so they were both lying down. He tucked Blaise's head under his chin and rubbed his back gently, hoping it would ease Blaise into sleep.

"Thanks for listening, Dray."

"Anytime, B. I hope you're feeling better."

He didn't get an answer, Blaise only nuzzled his head against Draco trying to get comfy. At least helping Blaise had taken Draco's mind off coming out to Harry. He had been right, he'd felt better after coming out to Harry, and he knew that Harry wouldn't go around telling anyone. For the first time in a while, Draco felt okay with everything as he dropped off into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to sort out an update schedule for this so it'll be weekly, rather than over two weeks between updates.


	4. Of Hogsmeade, Howlers and Hatred

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick visit to Hogsmeade allows even more group bonding for the Inter-House eighth years. Followed by hateful glares and lost appetites.

The next morning Draco had woken up without Blaise on top of him. He knew the other boy was an early riser, but he had been in a fairly bad state the previous night and Draco hadn't expected him to wake until at least noon. Draco looked around the room, Dean and Seamus were still cuddled and sleeping, they were disgustingly cute. Blaise's pyjama's were folded neatly on his pillow, and his clothes from the previous night were in his laundry bag. Blaise was probably already at breakfast in the Great Hall. Draco threw himself out of bed, changed quickly and gently shook Dean awake.

"Breakfast will be over in a half hour," he whispered.

"Ta, mate. Would've slept through it otherwise. And a hungry Seamus blows more things up than a normal Seamus."

The two laughed, and Draco left to make his own way to breakfast. His walk was lonely and silent, assuming most eighth years were already at breakfast or sleeping off the hangovers. Once he was in the great hall he saw five tables, rather than four. All of the eighth years were situated on the fifth table, Hermione spotted him and waved him over. He dropped in the seat next to her and helped himself to some French toast.

"So, we have a free day today, and since we're of age we don't need permission slips for Hogsmeade, a group of us were going to go. That is, if you wanted to join, Draco?" Hermione asked him kindly.

"Oh yes, I've been meaning to pop into Tomes and Scrolls and Scrivenshaft's for some new quills and parchment," Draco replied.

"I'll join you there," Blaise smiled at him opposite the table.

When Hermione said a group of the eighth years were going, she really should've said a small group. It was only Hermione, Blaise, Neville, Harry and himself. The plan was to split up and to meet up once more in The Three Broomsticks. Blaise had stuck to Draco's side all day, following him as Draco spent nearly two hours in Tomes and Scrolls, finding the books he needed, and ones he wanted to read for Muggle Studies. Blaise finally had enough and dragged the blonde boy into Honeydukes for some sweet snacks, as well as Zonko's for some small pranks.

"You never know when they'll come in handy," Blaise had smirked.

Draco just hoped that he wouldn't be on the receiving end of any of those, especially any of the dungbombs. He hadn't mentioned to Blaise that he knew exactly how the dungbombs were made and he'd very quickly learnt a spell to get the smell out quickly and sent a worse smell back to the original sender. He wouldn't need to use it, hopefully, it wasn't exactly a nice spell to be on the receiving end of. They walked quietly to the pub, Blaise not mentioning anything about the previous night, not that Draco expected him to. He had probably taken Draco's advice and was mulling over how he felt about Theodore sober.

They were the first to arrive in the pub so they ordered some butterbeer and found a booth. Granted it was made for four people really but there should've been enough space for the five of them. Blaise and Draco talked about what subjects they had chosen, whether they were going down the same route they had been the previous year or whether they had drifted. Draco had discovered that Blaise would be taking Muggle Studies with him when they both picked out the same necessary books in Tomes and Scrolls. It wasn't long before Hermione and Neville slid into the booth opposite them, each of them grabbing a butterbeer from the table.

"Well, I hope your shop was successful," Hermione sighed.

"Oh very, was yours not?" Draco asked.

"No, unfortunately, Tomes and Scrolls did not have my order yet, I couldn't find anything I wanted in Gladrags either. And to top it all off I was supposed to meet Ronald at Madam Puddifoots but he'd sent a note on ahead that he couldn't get any free time from his training," she took a long swig from her butterbeer.

"I got a nice cauldron from Ceridwen's, so hopefully it'll help me focus more, and get them right. Dogweed and Deathcap had some good Herbology books so I grabbed a couple of those," Neville tried to change the mood into a happier one.

"Like you'll need them, mate. I've never seen someone so naturally talented at Herbology," Blaise laughed.

A light blush dusted Neville's cheeks as he smiled back at Blaise. It was something Neville wasn't really used to, positive reinforcement. The four of them chatted, waiting for Harry who was obviously going to be late. He was never on time for anything. The conversation topic had drifted back to the subjects they were doing for their N.E.W.T.s, when Harry came strolling in and promptly sat on Blaise's lap, grabbing the only butterbeer left on their table. He took a large sip before turning to the group.

"Sorry I'm late, lads. And Hermione. I lost track of time in Spintwitches. What'd I miss?"

"You missed Draco announcing that he's decided to effectively kill himself by doing two years worth of work in one," Blaise pushed Harry in between the two of them, squishing Draco against the back of the booth.

"I am not. I'm still doing Potions, Herbology, Charms and Astronomy. The only difference is I swapped Defence Against the Dark Arts for Muggle Studies. Only one of the classes is two years worth. And McGonagall has already arranged my timetable so I'm going to the sixth and seventh years lessons," Draco explained.

"Seems like we have pretty much the same timetable then, Draco. Except I am not doing Herbology, don't really think it's my calling. And McGonagall would not, under any circumstances, let me do Muggle Studies as I was raised a Muggle," Harry smiled widely at him.

"I'll be sitting in on the sixth year's Muggle Studies class, Draco, so if they give you any trouble I am fully prepared to hex them," Hermione stated bravely.

"You won't hex them," Neville poked Hermione's arm. "You're too nice."

"You're right, but I will give them a stern talking to."

The four boys laughed at her resigned answer. Draco appreciated her looking out for him, but he didn't need it. He could look after himself, and he would hex a sixth year if he wanted to, not that he actually would. It would definitely make their impression of him even worse. Imagine, him responding to their simple taunts with a hex. It was just something he'd have to get used to.

"So what does everyone want to do after Hogwarts then?" Neville asked. "I fancy being a Professor myself."

"I'd want to be the Minister for Magic eventually, but I'd sort of like to be a Curse Breaker," Hermione said shyly.

"That's brilliant, Mione. You'd be a great one. I'm not sure what I want to do. Definitely not an Auror," Harry sighed, almost wistfully.

"I was shocked at that, mate. I was surprised you didn't take the open spot they'd left for you," Blaise looked at him suspiciously.

"I've had my fair share of war and fighting. And I know they bring down the bad guys, but I'm tired of fighting, you know? I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually."

"I want to be a Ward Specialist, though Curse Breaker and Auror appeals to me too. Depends how the rest of this year turns out, I suppose. What about you, Draco?"

Draco was silent for a few moments, he hadn't told Blaise what he'd wanted to do, hell he hadn't even told his mother, he visited her portrait often and spoke to her, he still told her nearly everything. Finally, fairly quietly he answered.

"I'd like to be a Healer if they'd let me."

"I'm sure a recommendation from the great Harry Potter will get you in," Harry placed a timid hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco let him rest it there.

"I appreciate that. But I'd rather get in on my own merit. Besides, I'm perfectly happy to continue working with George if it all goes, um, tits up, as you say."

Harry let out a loud laugh at the way Draco had said it, and once again it set the entire group off laughing. The conversation continued with school, personal lives, if anyone had made plans for Christmas yet (that was Hermione, of course) and it was the only topic that Draco didn't join in with. No-one questioned him, and no-one pushed him for an answer either. They had been in The Three Broomsticks for quite a few hours before they eventually decided to pack in and head back to the school in time for dinner. The five of them walked back, Neville chatting with Hermione and Harry animatedly, while Blaise and himself hung back a little. They had both reached their limit on socialising for the day, he thought. He was content to walk in comfortable silence with Blaise the whole way back.

Once they had reached the school Neville had run off saying something about Luna wanting to see his new books. The other four headed back to their common room. Unfortunately Ginny was there leaning against the table by the window. Once she spotted Harry she instantly ran up to him and snogged him senseless. Blaise made a fake gagging noise and Ginny glared at them both.

"Harry, you were supposed to be back two hours ago. I'm just glad Theodore let me in to wait in the warmth," she snapped.

"Sorry, Gin. We all got talking at the pub and lost track of time."

"Well, doesn't matter now. But you promised to have dinner with me so I'm stealing you," she grabbed his wrist and started to leave. "Malfoy, my brother sent you a howler, by the way, it's on the table," she practically hissed through her teeth at him.

Draco sighed, he watched Ginny take Harry away. Harry had pouted, obviously wanting to see the howler that George had sent him, but he didn't do much to stop his girlfriend dragging him away. Blaise and Hermione looked on nervously as Draco walked up to the howler and gently pulled it open. He couldn't think of anything that would make George angry, but George also seemed like the kind of person to send howlers instead of letters.

"Draco I-still-don't-know-your-middle-name Malfoy! How dare you go into Zonko's? My competitor?! Would it have killed you to apparate to Diagon Alley? And Blaise Zabini! I know you hand in this, my little Drac-ikins would never betray me like this. He knows that it would absolutely break my heart. The two of you are heartbreakers, I can't believe you! Oh and Draco? I can't find your notes on that dungbomb spell. I want to make it into a physical product but I'm not sure it'll work as well. Love George."

The howler shredded itself up and the remnants flew into the fire. Hermione looked as though she was holding back laughter and quickly grabbed her things and retreated to the girl's dorms. Draco met Blaise's eyes and the two boys burst out laughing. Seamus and Dean had come down to see what all the noise was about, but they just saw the two boys sitting on the floor in tears of laughter.

"Are those bags Harry's? We'll just take them up for him," Dean quickly excused the two, not wanting to intrude on whatever was going on with the Slytherin's on the floor. Though truth be told, Dean had never seen the two so happy.

The boys were still sat on the floor in front of the fire, periodically having bouts of giggles, when Hermione came down to grab them for dinner a half hour later. The three of them walked down to the Great Hall, both Blaise and Hermione asking Draco questions about the spell he had created. He gave them vague answers, not wanting to give anything away until George brought it out as a product if it worked. He didn't know who may be listening, plus he promised George that he would never give out detailed information on any product they were working on for the shop.

Ginny was sat at the eighth years' table, doting on Harry. But to Draco's luck, Luna was also sat at the table, with Neville. He knew who he'd prefer sitting with so he quickly took the seat next to Luna and watched as Hermione went to sit opposite Ginny and Harry. Blaise sat next to Draco, as far away from Theodore as he could get. Draco saw that a bit further down the table Theodore was sat with Pansy and Hannah.

"So Neville was talking about your day trip. I hope you're all okay, it's Nargle season."

"We're perfectly fine right now, Luna. Though I will come to you immediately if anything changes," Draco smiled warmly at the blonde girl.

"Good, I'd hate to see them hurt you, Draco."

Blaise gave him one of his signature looks before McGonagall took to the podium. She welcomed everyone back, yet again, and mentioned how the eighth years would be starting their lessons the following Monday instead of the next day, just to get them on an organised, rounded schedule. Which meant that they now had another three days off to bond and become friends hopefully. Draco scoffed, McGonagall probably knew about the shit show that was their bonding night, and although she was not mentioning it explicitly she gave a very pointed look to their table. It caused a few sniggers, especially for those who were sober enough to remember Seamus' escapade through the castle.

The rest of dinner went fairly quickly. Draco could nearly always feel Ginny's glare trying to burn a hole through his face, and when he couldn't, he assumed she'd gone back to making out with Harry. Being watch so aggressively and constantly made his appetite drop completely, and he ended up only eating a roll with a little bit of chicken on it, rather than the roast dinner he had originally wanted. Blaise tried to distract him so he could eat, but nothing was working. So Draco left dinner nearly as hungry as he had been when it had started, only it didn't hit him until about 10 pm when his stomach decided his appetite was back up. Blaise had already dropped off in Draco's bed, so he left a note explaining how he'd snuck off to the kitchens in case Blaise woke up.

Once he got to the kitchens he jumped to sit on the counter, which was followed by a house elf hitting his foot motioning for him to get down. Draco complied and pulled a seat up to the counter instead.

"I don't suppose I could trouble you for some of that soup you made for dinner, could I?"

"Make that two bowls, Winky, if you could?"

"Of course, Mr Potter."

The house elves set about gathering enough ingredients for what Draco imagined was exactly two bowls of soup, he could even smell some homemade bread being cooked. Harry pulled up a seat next to him, giving Draco a tired smile.

"Didn't eat much at dinner either?"

"Your girlfriend was glaring at me the whole time, don't really feel like being watched intently when I eat. What's your excuse?"

"My girlfriend decided that it was a great idea to make out with me, instead of letting me eat. Though I assume that was to make you uncomfortable as well."

"Please let me know whenever she'll be joining you at our table. At least as glares at me from across the hall I can have my back to her, and she won't be watching me eat."

"I'll try, but sometimes she just takes it upon herself to show up there."

Draco shook his head. The sat in a comfortable silence until there were suddenly two bowls of soup in front of them, along with a slice of homemade bread each. Winky held a finger over her mouth and winked at the two boys.

"This is supposed to be breakfast tomorrow Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter, but I'm sure they won't notice two slices missing, not like we ever count. You two are some of the only students who eat the crust ends."

Winky smiled brightly before heading back to work on the next morning's breakfast. Harry held his bread up to Draco. He quickly caught on to what Harry wanted, and lifted his bread up so that they could 'cheers'. Draco selfishly wished for more nights like this one. Nights where they were just two boys who hadn't been able to eat dinner. Sat in the kitchens, eating in peace.


	5. A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement, while Draco finally stands up to Ginny.

Draco was starting to agree with Blaise about the killing himself with schoolwork. He thought because it was only the one subject he'd wanted to do the two years worth of it wouldn't be as horrific. But he was wrong. He'd read all the material for all of his classes but keeping up with the schedule and homework for them was worse than it had ever been for him. He often forgot which homework was for his sixth year class and which was for his seventh. He'd been found asleep at desks in the library, and his common room, multiple times and they were only a month into the school year. Draco was normally much more in control of his school work, definitely not his life, but he prided himself on being smart, and generally just under Hermione in terms of scores. But this was a whole new level, and he had trouble grasping Muggle concepts. He was reaching breaking point when Harry found him screaming into his pillow.

"I was looking for Dean, but, well, are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine," Draco mumbled into the pillow.

"Right. Only, you're screaming into a pillow. If I didn't know any better I'd say the Nargles had you."

"But?"

"But I know better. I'm going to guess the school work that you wouldn't be killing yourself with is killing you."

Draco lifted his head out from his pillow and nodded, before shoving his face back into the soft pillow he'd been screaming in. He felt the bed dip next to him and almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a warm hand tentatively being placed on his back. He didn't have any energy in him to shrug it off, so he let Harry gently rub small circles into his back.

"Look, Hermione says you're doing as good as you usually do in Potions and Charms. Neville has mentioned you're doing better than expected in Herbology. And you know more about Astronomy than the bloody teacher. You have to be struggling in Muggle Studies. I propose an arrangement. McGonagall said I couldn't take Muggle Studies, she never said I couldn't tutor it. How about this? I'll tutor you in Muggle Studies if you tutor me in Astronomy?"

Draco sat up, Harry's hand dropping to the small of his back, rather than stopping completely. It was a good arrangement, Harry had been raised a Muggle, and Draco knew more about Astronomy than a lot of famous Astronomers. If they set some time in the week to tutor each other, it might just work out.

"The only time I'm free long enough is for three hours after lunch on Thursdays," Draco mentioned.

"Perfect. We'll do an hour and a half of Muggle Studies and an hour and a half for Astronomy. I'm really glad you agreed to this, Draco."

And then Harry did something unexpected, he gave Draco a very brief hug, before saying goodbye and heading out to find Dean. Draco was in shock, having Harry's hand on his back when he was more focused on his pillow was one thing, but being alert enough for a hug? He can't remember hugging anyone but George and his mother. He would never admit it out loud, but he liked it and he wanted more of it. Sure he cuddled with Blaise but normally they were both drunk or half-asleep, so it didn't count.

That's how their weekly tutoring sessions started. They'd both bring some snacks, and their homework for the classes, well for Astronomy. Harry mostly told Draco all about the Muggle world as he hurriedly took notes on everything Harry was saying. Sometimes Draco promised that if they were both free one evening he'd sneak Harry up to the Astronomy tower to have a proper tutoring session. Except that rarely happened for the first few weeks of tutoring, Ginny would normally claim Harry for the evening and Blaise was still going through his sexuality crisis so Draco would be calming him down.

Until one night, Ginny was ill and Blaise had done so much homework he fell asleep fairly early. Meaning Harry and Draco were both free. Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and pulled it around the two of them. They barely fit, Draco's sure their shoes and ankles were visible but he didn't care. He just wanted to be up at the Astronomy tower, gazing at the stars. He could honestly talk about them for hours on end.

When they reached the tower Harry produced a blanket and some cushions for them to sit on as Draco taught. While Draco opened the shutters, Harry very carefully adjusted the telescope, in case Draco had wanted to use it. They had been up there for an hour, Draco telling Harry more about the stars and constellations than what was necessary for their lessons.

"Oh and that there," he gently moved Harry's finger to point at a constellation, "is Draco."

"That's the one you were named after? Is that how you got into astronomy? Most Blacks are named after constellations, right?"

"I guess. Sort of. I was always wondering where our names came from. Mother bought me a star chart when I was about 6 or 7, it's still in the manor somewhere. From then on I was hooked, it was how I escaped. I could dream about being amongst the stars, it was the only hobby of mine that Father hadn't forced me into. It was truly just my own. I learnt everything I could about it and as I got older, I learnt more being able to understand more and more. I love the stars and constellations, it helps me fill my time and forget about the world below."  
"Wow, I didn't realise they meant that much to you."

"Yeah, well sorry to unload onto you."

"Sometimes I think that I'm still with Ginny because it's easy. I've never been with anyone else properly, she's a lot of my firsts. But I don't think I love her the same as I once did."

"Why would you say that? To me?"

"Well, it's true. Besides you unloaded on to me, it's only fair I unload a little back."

Harry shrugged and lay back on the blanket. Draco joined him, thinking about what Harry had said. He never thought he'd be having a deep conversation with Harry Potter, but he supposed times had changed. They were on their way to being decent friends, if they weren't there already. The only thing stopping them from being better friends was the fact that Harry's girlfriend would practically hiss at Draco any time he got near to Harry. Most of the other Weasley’s had gotten used to Draco’s presence, some even being rather friendly with him. He just didn’t understand why Ginny seemed to still hate him with a passion.

The tutoring sessions had been going even better after that, Harry had more of a grasp of Astronomy once he could see the stars properly, learning for himself without a Professor there. He learnt things in a different order but as long as he was getting good marks on his homework, Draco didn’t mind. And in return Draco was now excelling in Muggle Studies, he tried his best on his own, having a better understanding as a whole but if he got really stuck, Harry would help him, give him hints until the answer clicked in Draco’s head. It had been working perfectly. And then one day Hermione showed up instead of Harry.

“He says he’s sorry. Ginny dragged him off just as he was coming round the corner to here. He grabbed me on the way and told me to help you if you needed it,” she smiled, looking at the work Draco had laid out ready.

He didn’t know why he felt so disappointed, Hermione was a Muggleborn, and no offense to Harry, a lot smarter than him. Draco should be happy she was offering her help, but he wasn’t. Perhaps it was because this had helped him build the bridge to friendship with Harry, or that it had become routine for the both of them he supposed.

“Yes that’s fine. I was actually stuck with this question for the seventh year class homework, it’s the very last question I need to answer and I can’t make heads or tails of it,” Draco point towards the end of his parchment.

Hermione read over the question, and the previous question in case it had linked in. She motioned for Draco to sit down and went about explaining, pulling in textbooks and diagrams to help. They ended up spending the majority of the three hours going over the question and double-checking the rest of his work before they were both satisfied that he would get a good mark. He dropped off the parchment to the Professor on the way to dinner.

Once they arrived he saw Ginny at their table yet again, he’d been expecting it this time after Hermione mentioned her dragging Harry off. He was more surprised at the strength Hermione had after pulling him to sit next to her, immediately opposite Ginny.

“Honestly, Harry. He’s so fussy about the quality of his work. I don’t know how you deal with him.”

“Not being funny, but so are you, Mione. Thought you two would get along with it all swimmingly.”

Hermione quickly shook her head in disagreement. Draco kept his eyes cast down, hoping he’d be able to eat this dinner, without Ginny staring at him. He’d been managing pretty well since term began, only having a few nights here and there where he didn’t feel like eating. Then again, he’d never sat opposite her, while she was _still_ trying to burn a hole through his head.

“Lay off him, Gin. I can feel the stupidly unnecessary anger radiating off of you,” Harry sighed.

“I’m not angry. Anyway, Harry, Thursdays after lunch I’ve got you to myself now.”

“Hey, no, wait. That’s the only free time I have and I need his help with Muggle Studies,” Draco couldn’t help but pout.

“Well, Quidditch practice has been rescheduled to fit in with the new captain’s timetable. Besides I’m sure Hermione is perfectly capable of tutoring you,” Ginny scoffed.

“Never again,” Hermione shuddered.

“Gin, _you’re_ the new Quidditch captain and you were perfectly fine practising on Thursday afternoons, when everyone, including yourself, is available. Stop being petty, go back to the original schedule and you’ll still have me Monday afternoons and evenings.”

“But that’s a Monday,” Ginny cried.

“Oh, stop being a baby. You are 17 years old, surely you can cope with having date nights on a Monday.”

Draco had meant to say that in his head, really he had. But it had burst out, his filter failing him. All four faces were in a state of shock for a moment. Harry and Hermione’s very quickly changed to trying to keep in their laughter at Draco’s abrupt statement. Ginny looked ready to slit his throat. Well, he might as well continue.

“What?!”

“The fact of the matter is Harry is the only one who will tolerate my fussiness over the quality of my work and still help me. The only time I am free is Thursdays, and I tutor him just as much as he tutors me. So for Christ’s sakes, act your age and be supportive of your boyfriend for once.”

Ginny went for him over the table, red in the face. Harry held her back by her waist, a slight smirk on his face. He nodded at the door with his head, motioning that it was probably best if Draco left. Draco followed Harry’s silent order, but not before stopping to ask Blaise to sneak him up some food.

Not long after he reached the common room, Blaise entered with two full plates. They ate in silence, and sat in contentment until Blaise spoke up.

“I can’t bloody believe you did that. We were all wondering when she was going to try and stop your tutoring sessions, had a bet going and everything. God, I should’ve bet on you blowing up.”

“I didn’t mean to, once I started I couldn’t stop. But she’s just so infuriating, I don’t even know what exactly it is I’m supposed to have done for her to hate me.”

“Spending time with her boyfriend, I think. She’s definitely worse when it comes to you, but she gets possessive when Hannah, Pansy and I hang out with him. She uses what you did as an excuse to hate you though, she’s stuck in the past. Oh and she’s going to be writing to her family so you might want to get there first.”

So Draco spent the rest of the evening writing letters to every individual member of the Weasley family, putting more time and care in George’s, Molly’s and Charlie’s as they were the ones who seemed to like him most. But the letters all had the same general gist.

_‘Dear (insert Weasley name here),_

_Ginny will probably be writing to you today to say that I shouted at her or hexed her or something. While this is not true, I must admit I lost my temper with her. She has been trying to coerce Harry out of tutoring me for Muggle Studies, and without his help I would most certainly fail. Not to mention she hasn’t exactly been the most welcoming or kindest to me at all. I can understand why, but I am trying my hardest to move on from the war, as are others, and Ginny has been making it exceedingly difficult for that to happen, either reminding me of my own faults, or talking about it with others. I have good sources in both Dean and Luna about that._

_You have no reason to believe me over your own daughter/sister after what I’ve done, I understand that completely. But if you need reassurance of my words, then do ask Harry and he will tell the utmost truth to you all._

_Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy.’_

He signed the final letter and attached them in a bundle before finding both his owl and Harry’s. He sent his owl to the burrow, and he sent Harry’s to George, Charlie and Bill. He spoke gently to them, thanking them for their help and apologising about the work he was making them do. As they flew off, all he could hope was that Ginny didn’t manage to turn the Weasley family against him.


	6. Blow-Ups and Break Ups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath, the quiet and the peace, Draco discovers something new about Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am terrible, this has been sitting in my notebook for a couple of months, finished. I thought I'd published it, apparently not.

George had written back to Draco, as had Charlie and both had said his letter had arrived shortly before Ginny's had. George had said that Ginny was being a bit of a petty bitch, Charlie said she had taken things out of proportion. They believed Draco, that was all that mattered to him. Draco had done his best to avoid Ginny the following week and a half, there was only one dinner that she invited herself to and Draco had quickly filled a plate and excused himself. The tutoring sessions had still been going, both boys getting the highest marks they'd ever had in their respective subjects. Draco knew it was going to come to a head soon, Ginny seemed to be bottling up her anger, even Harry was trying not to accidentally piss her off more than usual. It's why he wasn't surprised when that Wednesday afternoon went the way it did.

He'd decided he'd had enough of studying for his December mini-tests and went back to the common room, only to find Ginny already screaming in Harry's face while Harry was trying, and failing, to calm her.

"We barely spend any time together anymore!"

"Gin, we spend pretty much every other afternoon together, as well as countless trips into Hogsmeade on the weekends."

"You spend all your free time with Malfoy instead of me. What's so special about that git anyway?"

"I'd hardly call Thursday afternoons all my free time. Gin, you're going to kill me for saying this, but you do know that you're one of the only ones to still have a problem with him?"

"So, now you're taking his side? Over your own girlfriend's?"

"It's not his side. You're just being a bitch to him for no reason."

"No reason? No bloody reason? He's killed people Harry, he has the dark mark, he's a death eater. It's his fault Fred is dead, it's his fault half the people who died are dead. And yet he gets to come back sauntering around the halls as if he's the precious prince of Hogwarts as if he can do no wrong."

"You're being unreasonable. You're blaming him for things that he hasn't done or that weren't his choice. And he's hardly sauntering around like he's a prince. He avoids crowds, and only sits with us in the Great Hall because his mates do, really."

"If you're going to take that bastard's side right now, maybe you need some time and space to reconsider."

"Maybe it needs to be more than just time and space. I think this is it for us, Ginny. We're done."

"Over this?" Ginny suddenly went quiet.

"Not just this, don't think I haven't noticed you be a bitch to Pansy and Blaise as well. You don't trust me, not like you say you do. To be honest, I don't feel the same way I once did. Haven't for a while."

Draco had hidden in the alcove behind one of the bookcases, he'd discovered it the first week they'd been in the common room. He did not want to be in Ginny's path after this. Or ever, but that was impossible. He could practically feel the tension between the couple, well, ex-couple. He heard Ginny pacing about the room before she stopped. She took a deep breath and started to walk towards Harry.

"You are such a prat, Harry Potter!"

Draco heard a glass smash and a door slam. He quietly took some deep breaths before revealing himself from behind the shelves. Harry was knelt on the floor, trying to pick up pieces of broken glass, his hands were bleeding. Draco was relieved that all she had done was throw it on the floor, rather than at Harry himself.

"Hey," Draco whispered, kneeling down next to Harry. "You know there are spells for this?"

"Yeah, yeah. Used to do this the muggle way, reflexes, you know?"

"Let me help."

"No, no. Wouldn't want to be a bother. 'sides I've got most of it up already."

"At least let me fix up your hands after you're done?"

Harry thought about it and nodded gently. Draco decided it was best to let Harry come to him, so he announced he would be in his room and left Harry to finish picking the glass up. Draco had a feeling Harry would not come for help immediately, in fact, Harry didn't come for help until nearly an hour later. He had make-shift bandages wrapped haphazardly around both of his hands. He sat down next to Draco and placed his hands palms up on his knees.

Draco made quick work of it, he'd been practising on Blaise and Theodore, and the little cuts and scrapes they got from Quidditch, along with the countless scratches Neville came back with from his Herbology classes. Once he was done they sat in silence for a while. Draco desperately wanted to see whether Harry was ok but felt out of place asking.

"I feel horrible," Harry finally whispered.

"That's to be expected, you just broke up with your girlfriend."

"No, but that's the thing. I feel horrible because I don't feel bad about the break-up, I should, shouldn't I?"

"You said yourself that you hadn't felt the same about her in a while, that's probably why, Harry. Look, I know you normally speak to Ron or Hermione about this sort of thing but seeing as she is Ron's sister, and Hermione's going to be worse than I am for the next couple of weeks, you can talk to me if you need to."

Nothing more was said. Draco felt as though he may have overstepped his boundaries. He was even more worried when Harry got up and went to leave the room, although he whispered a 'thank you' as he left and Draco let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he was holding.

It was a few mornings after the incident that Draco saw Harry again, alone at least. He seemed to be holding himself carefully, much like Draco had when he was younger, afraid that one wrong move would get him in trouble. Harry seemed much more closed off to Ron than he had been, although Ron also seemed a bit wary of Harry. The two of them were tiptoeing around the other, not knowing how to approach, though both knew the break up had been coming.

Harry was sat curled up in a chair close to the fire, reading a book, and carefully trying to sip out of a mug with one hand.

"You know you could enchant the book," Draco announced as he approached.

"Takes some of the magic out of it, I think," Harry laughed at himself. "Ironically."

"Didn't take you for a reader."

"I try, granted I've had a bit more free time recently."

Draco nodded and took a seat on the large mass of pillows in front of the fire. He stayed upright for a total of two minutes before collapsing and sinking into the pillows. He felt his eyes closing, drooping heavily. He very desperately needed to catch up on his sleep, it seemed.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort," Harry started to read out loud.

It was enough to shock Draco awake, raising his eyebrows at the other.

"What? I thought it might be nice for you to listen to some Muggle literature."

"But you'd already started."

"I'll be honest, hadn't really made it past the first page. At least this way it'll force me into reading it."

Draco laid back down and motioned with his hand for Harry to continue reading. He let Harry's voice wash over him as he listened. It couldn't have been more than an hour before he'd finally drifted off. And if Harry had marked the exact sentence where he had nodded off so they could continue reading together if Draco wished, well Draco was asleep and it was nothing more than a subconscious coincidence.


End file.
